660 BCE Mythological first emperor Jimmu establishes control of Japan
200 BCE-250 CE Yoshinogari thrives, as first known regional center
183-248 CE Reputed dates for reign of Himiko
400-500 Height of kofun (mounded tomb) culture
552 Buddhism arrives in Japan, according to traditional dates
607 Suiko and Shotoku Taishi send embassy to China
710-784 Nara serves as first “permanent” capital
752 Dedication of Great Buddha draws representatives from across Asia
794-1185 Heian serves as capital, under rule of aristocratic classes
805-806 Indigenous Buddhist sects, Tendai and Shingon, founded
894 Japan terminates embassies to China
1006-1008 Tale of Genji produced by Murasaki Shikibu
1185-1333 Kamakura serves as military capital; imperial court still in Heian
1191 Eisai of Rinzai sect establishes first Zen temple
1274, 1281 Mongol fleets attack Japan; their defeat gives rise to idea of kamikaze
1333-1573 Muromachi area of Kyoto serves as capital under shogun
1467-1477 Onin Upheaval ends Kyoto’s power, initiates warring states period
1499 Rock Garden of Ryoanji in Kyoto completed
1543 Portuguese ship stranded on Tanegashima Island: first Westerners in Japan
1590 Toyotomi Hideyoshi completes military unification of Japan; two years later he unsuccessfully invades Korea
1600-1868 Edo serves as administrative capital under Tokugawa; emperors reside in Kyoto
1641 The Dutch, the only Westerners still in Japan, are restricted by Tokugawa to Dejima island, Chinese to quarters in Nagasaki
1673 Mitsui dry-goods store founded in Kyoto, the beginning of a financial giant
1688-1704 Genroku era produces a flowering of urban culture
1805 World’s first use of anesthesia in surgery, by Hanaoka Seisho
1853 U.S. commodore Matthew Perry demands that Japan open its ports to American ships; his demands are granted the next year
1868 Meiji Restoration topples shogunate, initiates massive reforms
1871 Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun launched as Japan’s first daily newspaper
1889 Meiji Constitution makes Japan Asia’s first constitutional monarchy
1894-1895 Sino-Japanese War, won decisively by Japan; Taiwan becomes Japan’s first colony
1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War, won by Japan, though not decisively
1910 Japan annexes Korea, greatly expanding its empire
1923 Great Kanto Earthquake claims nearly 140,000 lives
1925 Peace Preservation Law restricts speech; Universal Male Suffrage Law expands electorate
1931 Railway bombing in Manchuria launches Japan’s takeover of northeast China and creation of Manchukuo
1937 Skirmish at Marco Polo Bridge, near Beijing, initiates Japan’s second war with China
1941 World War II in Pacific begins with Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
1945 U.S. drops atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Japan surrenders
1945-1952 Japan is occupied by American-led SCAP administration
1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo
1968 Kawabata Yasunari is first Japanese to win Nobel Prize in literature
1972 Okinawa reverts to Japanese control
1973 World oil crisis triggers inflation, new energy policies
1989 Showa emperor (Hirohito) dies after sixty-two years on throne
1990-1992 Bubble economy bursts, leading to a decade of economic woes
1995 Diet expresses “deep remorse” for colonialism and World War II
2003 Diet votes to send troops to Iraq, the first assignment of Self Defense Forces to an active combat zone
2009 Democratic Party of Japan ends LDP’s decades-long hold on power |